going to it their legislature saying help us retrieve our property, quote, property. here we have an article about the missouri legislature going to congress and saying to them that under the existing laws of canada and the treaties between great britain and the united states, it is impossible to recover a slave who has once escaped to the canadian shore. and, of course, what is the fastest way to get across but from detroit, across the detroit river to get to canada, which is why michigan played such an important role in the underground railroad. so here we have them showing themselves to this whole country, that this issue had become a serious problem and that slaves weren't these contented folk, as they claimed. they were escaping permanently, from a life they no longer wanted to lead. they wanted their freedom. and they showed it to the world. so this newspaper said, look, here it is. getting toward the end of publication. and it is 1847. at this time, beckley has bowed out of publishing. he had written personal letters where he said that it was just too great a h